Nelly Defends Drake's Music

Nelly, an artist who has been known to sing and rap throughout his career, says Drake should not be criticized for doing both.

"Everybody don't like the mixture [of genres]," Nelly said during an interview with vladtv.com. "But some fans, a lot of fans - the guy sold damn near 800,000 the first week - so it's a lot of fans that like Drake's singing. I think that's all he gives a damn about. As an artist, you can't have a stigma put on yourself as far as what you can do and what you can't do. You just try to be the best artist that you can be. We're in a time right now where being an artist doesn't limit you to rapping. It just doesn't limit you to singing. It limits you to create. All your job is is to create good music. He's creating good music. Fans that don't like to hear Drake sing, then switch to the next song where he's rapping."

Nelly continued, saying he received similar criticism for years.

"I used to get the same thing," Nelly said. "'You should do this more. You should do that more.' But the reality of the situation is that you have fans that like you to do both. So you try to create as a testament to your ability to do both."

During the interview, Nelly was also asked if he prefers Drake as a singer or as a rapper.

"I just like Drake," Nelly said. "It's not about whether I like him singing or rapping. He's Drake. I hate when people do that. It's almost like segregation or something. Can't the dude just be him? Let's just be a person. Let's not limit. Just be an artist."

"The album's going to be kind of like something you've never heard before, I promise you," he said. "We trying to push the limits. I've been in here working real hard with my brother Pharrell with the detailing to bring the sound and everything out. I think we've got that so make sure you cop it."

Drake released Nothing Was The Same this year also. While Nelly estimated Drake's first week sales for the album to be approximately 800,000, the project moved about 659,000 units in its first week.